The present invention relates to radiant heating and cooling systems for residential and commercial applications, and more particularly to panels and other modular units designed to facilitate the installation of these systems.
Radiant heating and cooling systems have become increasingly popular, not only for their capacity to deliver more comfortable and consistent heating and cooling, but also due to system improvements that have yielded up to forty percent more efficiency as compared to forced air systems. Nonetheless, several difficulties associated with the installation and use of these systems prevent what otherwise might be more widespread usage.
For example, most systems today are custom designed, with drawings prepared to reflect exacting measurements and requiring assembly of components by skilled individuals to meet plan specifications. Changes after installation begins, whether based on an impulse or required by an incorrect measurement or change in circumstances, are extremely difficult.
Another problem is the lack of sufficiently even heating and cooling, characterized for example by “hot spots” or “cold spots” on the floor of a floor-installed system. Frequently this is due to a somewhat fragmented nature of the installed system, in terms of breaks between strips or other areas of heat conductive material. In some floor mounted systems, heat conductive material is installed along the bottom of system panels. This has the unfortunate effect of drawing heat in a direction opposite to that where it is most needed.
Where a system is installed over a preexisting concrete floor, typically a moisture barrier is laid first, followed by an insulative layer, in turn followed by an underlayment or sub-floor of wood. These components undesirably increase the height of the floor, frequently requiring the trimming of doors and molding.
To the extent that current systems provide panels, these panels tend to be heavy, due to the use of wood as the main panel component. The heavier panels are more expensive to ship, and more difficult to handle at the job site. Conversely, flooring panels composed largely of expanded foam insulation typically require a concrete over-pour to provide structural support and anchor a subsequent flooring layer. Further, the panels are largely designed for specific applications, e.g. new construction versus preexisting construction, heating versus cooling, hydronic heat versus electrical element heat, and self-supporting versus concrete over-pour.
Several systems have been proposed to counteract these difficulties. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2008/0017725 (Backman, Jr.) discloses a panel that incorporates weight bearing support knobs with screw guide holes. The panel further incorporates cradles between pairs of adjacent support knobs to contain hydronic tubing. A layer of heat diffusing material can be attached to the support knobs with screws. The screws can extend through the knobs and into a sub-floor if desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,185 (Muir) is drawn to a hydronic radiant heating system in which a nonstructural board has a recess to receive hydronic tubing. A metal coating is applied to a top surface of the board by spraying, by plating, or as a foil.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,381 (Fiedrich), a radiant heating panel includes a radiation plate formed of metal secured to a pair of holding boards. Between the holding boards, the plate is curved to provide a channel or slot designed to snugly receive the tubing. An insulative reinforcing mat can be installed to the holding boards on the side opposite to that of the radiation plate.
In a panel design available from Createc Corporation of Indianapolis, Ind., a solid panel formed of expanded polystyrene foam incorporates a series of knobs that extend upwardly from a panel base. The tubing is gripped between pairs of the knobs. This is a floor installed system, designed for concrete over-pouring.
Although the forgoing designs may be useful in certain applications, none of them effectively addresses all of the difficulties noted above. Therefore, the present invention has several aspects, each directed to one or more of the following objects:                to provide a radiant heating and cooling panel incorporating an anchoring layer adapted for surface bonding to a substrate and further adapted to frictionally retain fasteners driven into the panel through an outer layer overlying the panel, to secure the cover layer integrally with respect to the substrate;        to provide a radiant temperature control system in which a single, low profile subflooring layer incorporates a moisture impermeable shell shaped to retain an elongate flexible thermal control component, a thermally conductive film, a thermally insulative layer, and weight bearing structural members adapted to frictionally retain fasteners to secure a flooring layer overlying the subflooring layer;        to provide a radiant heating panel shaped to retain an elongate flexible heating component, an insulative layer to minimize heat transfer from the heating component toward a substrate to which the panel is mounted, and a thermally conductive layer to facilitate heat transfer from the heating component away from the substrate; and        to provide a process for installing radiant heating and cooling systems incorporating weight bearing and anchoring capability in less time, at reduced cost, and without the need for highly skilled labor.        